Festival atmosphere for BMX cup

Food trucks, live music and a ‘‘cycling zone’’ are being planned for next year’s UCI BMX Supercross World Cup event for Shepparton, aiming to boost visitation and interest in the event.

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Food trucks, live music and a ‘‘cycling zone’’ are being planned for next year’s UCI BMX Supercross World Cup event for Shepparton, aiming to boost visitation and interest in the event.

About 10000 attendees during three days are being anticipated for next year’s BMX Supercross World Cup, according to Greater Shepparton City Council.

Council’s economic development manager Anthony Nicolaci estimated 5000 to 7000 additional attendees could be expected to attend as a result of an accompanying festival event than initially earmarked for the standalone BMX event.

He said of the 10000 attendees the council was hoping for, 1000 international visitors, 2000 to 2500 visitors from intrastate and interstate, with rest expecting to attend from within a 50km radius.

He anticipated up to 3000 visitors could stay overnight in the region for the event.

The council was recently successful in receiving $145000 from the Federal Government towards delivering the 2020 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup to Shepparton including ‘‘an amateur participation event and food and music festival’’, the Building Better Regions Fund website reads.

Mr Nicolaci described the accompanying festival to take on a ‘‘multi-faceted approach’’ — sport, food and music.

He anticipated a number of zones in the festival area, including a food truck area with ‘‘a focus on flavours of the world’’ and a music and entertainment area with ‘‘a strong focus on Shepparton performers’’.

‘‘We want to make sure this festival has a family focus,’’ Mr Nicolaci said.

‘‘Then another part of the event we’re hoping to deliver is a sports and cycling type zone. And a chillout area.’’

Mr Nicolaci said part of the grant would allow the council to expand the event to ensure it became more accessible and more of a reason to come to Greater Shepparton.

Alongside being ‘‘a good spectacle to watch’’ Mr Nicolaci anticipated the World Cup event to be among the most significant events to come to the city and the council was keen to provide ‘‘a welcoming environment for visitors when they come to town’’.

He said the council was completing a track upgrade, while a grandstand and big screen would also be put in place for the event.